The document discusses operationalizing concepts for measurement in research. It defines operationalization as reducing abstract concepts to observable behaviors and characteristics to allow measurement. Dimensions are the main characteristics of a concept, while elements are representative, measurable behaviors. It provides examples of operationalizing the concepts of achievement motivation and learning. For achievement motivation, dimensions include being driven by work and preferring challenges. Elements that measure these include hours worked and job difficulty preferences. For learning, dimensions are understanding, retention, and application. Elements on a test could measure definition recall, theory explanation, and situation analysis. The document stresses that operational definitions do not describe correlates, but define observable measures of the concept itself. It also provides guidance on developing an

3. 3FIGURE 6.2Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sekaran/RESEARCH 4E
The Various Issues involved in the Research Design

4. Purpose of the
study
Exploration
Description
Hypothesis testing
Measurement
and measures
Operational
definition
Items (measure)
Scaling
Categorizing
Coding
Study
setting
Contrived
Noncontrived
Extent of researcher
interference
Minimal: Studying
events as they normally
occur Manipulation
and/or control and/or
simulation
Types of
investigation
Establishing:
Causal relationships
Correlations
Group differences,
ranks, etc.
MEASUREMENTDETAILS OF STUDY
Data
collection
method
Observation
Interview
Questionnaire
Physical
measurement
Unobtrusive
Time
Horizon
One-shot
(cross-sectional)
Longitudinal
Sampling
Design
Probability/
nonprobability
Sample
size (n)
Unit of analysis
(population to be
studied)
Individuals
Dyads
Groups
Organizations
Machines
etc.
1. Feel for
data
2. Goodness
of data
3. Hypotheses
testing
DATA
ANALYSIS
PROBLEMSTATEMENT
Diagram 6.2: The research design.
Ch- 5 THE RESEARCH PROCESS
Step 6: Elements of Research Design

5. 5
Measurement of Variables:
Operational Definition
CHAPTER 6

6. 6
MEASUREMENT OF VARIABLES
• OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
– Dimensions and Elements of Concepts
– What an Operational Definition is Not?
Measurement

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Easily measured variables: using appropriate measuring
instruments
 Blood pressure, pulse rates, body temperature, height or
weight.
 But people’s subjective feelings, attitudes, and perceptions,
the measurement of these factors or variables becomes
difficult.
 Reduce the abstract notions, or concepts such as motivation,
involvement, satisfaction, buyer behavior, and the like, to
observable behavior and characteristics.
 Reduction of abstract concepts to render them measureable in a
tangible way is called operationalizing the concepts.
Measurement of Variables:

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• MEASUREMENT
 The assignment of numbers or other symbols to
characteristics of objects according to a pre-
specified set of rules.
Measurement

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• CHARACTERISTICS OF OBJECTS
• Objects;
– Include persons, strategic business units,
companies, countries, kitchen appliances,
restaurants, shampoo, yogurt and so on.
• Examples of characteristics of objects
– Achievement motivation, organizational
effectiveness, shopping enjoyment, length, weight,
service quality, taste.
Objects

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• MEASUREMENT OF VARIABLES
– In the theoretical framework MoV is an
important part and aspect of research design.
– Unless the variables are measured in some
way, we will not be able to test our hypotheses
and find answers to complex research issues.
Measurement

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MEASUREMENT OF VARIABLES
• Two types of variables:
– Objective nature: could be measured
– Subjective nature: hard to be measured
• Objects that can be physically measured:
– The length and width of an office table
– The office floor area
– The demographic characteristics of the
employees: →
Measurement

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– The demographic characteristics of the employees:
1. How long have you been working in this
organization.
2. What is your job title.
3. What is your marital status?
4. The number of your children.
• The absenteeism of employees.
• The number of products produced.
Measurement

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MEASUREMENT OF VARIABLES
• Objects that can’t be measured physically :
– The perceptions of individuals.
– Extent of authority given to the individual.
– How the supervisor treats the workers.
– Promotional opportunities.
– The degree of understanding.
Measurement

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MEASUREMENT OF VARIABLES
• Technique to measure these variables
– Reduce the abstract notion (theoretical view) to
observable behavior and characteristics.
– For instance, the concept of thirst is abstract;
we cannot see thirst.
– We expect a thirsty person to drink water.
– We determine the thirst levels by measuring
the quantity of water that a person drinks.
Measurement

16. 16
DIMENSIONS AND ELEMENTS
– Operational definition
– A statement of the specific dimensions (the main characteristics)
and elements (representative behavior) through which a concept
will become measurable.
– Operationalizing
– Is done by looking at the behavioral dimensions, or
properties denoted by the concept. These are then
translated into observable and measurable elements.
– Operationally defining a concept involves a series of
steps.
Operational Definition

17. 17
Example: Operationalizing
The Concept of Achievement Motivation
• What behavioral dimensions or characteristics
would we expect to find in people with high
achievement motivation?
• The people who have high achievement motivation
would probably have the following five typical broad
characteristics, which we will call dimensions:
Operational Definition

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Example (Cont.)
1. They would be driven by work
2. No mood to relax
3. Prefer to work on their own rather with others
4. They engage in challenging jobs rather than
easy ones.
5. They like to get feedback from their superiors,
colleagues, to know how they are progressing.
Operational Definition

19. 19
Example (Cont.)
• Although, breaking the concept of Achievement
Motivation into the five dimensions has reduced its
level of abstraction, we have still not
operationalized the concept into measurable
elements of behavior.
• This could be done by breaking each dimension
into its elements, in order to distinguish those who
have high motivation from those with less.
Operational Definition

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ELEMENTS OF DIMENSION NO. 1:
(They would be driven by work will)
1. Be at work all the time (hours per week)
2. Be reluctant to take time off from work (reasons)
3. Persevere even in the face of some setbacks
– These behaviors can be measured?
• All the above elements could be counted by asking
a direct questions to the respondents through a
questioners or an interviews.
Operational Definition

21. 21
ELEMENTS OF DIMENSION NO. 2:
(No mood to relax)
• The degree of unwillingness to relax can be
measured by asking such questions as:
1. How often do you think about work while you are
away from the workplace?
2. What are your hobbies?
3. How do you spend your time when you are away
from workplace?
– Who relax very well = ? Who relax very little = ?
Operational Definition

22. 22
ELEMENTS OF DIMENSION NO. 3:
(Prefer to work on their own rather with others)
1. Individuals with high achievement motivation
have no patience with ineffective people and
does not like to work with others.
Operational Definition

23. 23
ELEMENTS OF DIMENSION NO. 4:
(They engage in challenging jobs rather than easy
ones)
1. They don’t like routine jobs
2. They like to take moderate, rather than
overwhelming challenges
– Who prefer fairly routine jobs = ?
– Who prefer progressive challenging jobs = ?
Operational Definition

24. 24
ELEMENTS OF DIMENSION NO. 5:
(They like to get feedback from their superiors,
colleagues, to know how they are progressing)
1. Ask for feedback on how the job has been
done, both negative and positive.
– Who seeks extensive feedback from all sources = ?
– Who never seek any feedback from any one any time = ?
– ( see Figure 1)
Operational Definition

25. 25

26. 26
DIMENSIONS AND ELEMENTS
• Operationally defining the concept is the best
way to measure it.
• We measure it by ask the respondents to report
their own behavior patterns by asking them
appropriate questions, which they can respond
to on some scale that we provide.
Operational Definition

27. 27
Example: Answers to the following questions (about the
elements of the concept) would be one way of tapping the
level of achievement motivation
 To what extent would you push yourself to get
the job done on time?
 How difficult do you find it to continue to do
your work in the face of initial failures?
 How often do you neglect personal matters
because you are preoccupied with your job?
 How frequently do you think of your work when
you are at home?

28. 28
 To what extent do you engage yourself in
hobbies?
 How disappointed would you feel if you did not
reach the goals you had set for yourself?
 How much do you concentrate on achieving
your goals?
 How annoyed do you get when you make
mistakes?
 To what extent would you prefer to work by
yourself rather than with others?
Example: Answers to the following questions (about the
elements of the concept) would be one way of tapping the
level of achievement motivation

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 To what extent would you prefer a job that is
difficult but challenging, to one that is easy and
routine?
 During the past 3 months, how often have you
sought feedback from your superiors on how
well you are performing your job?
 How often have you tried to obtain feedback on
your performance from your co-workers during
the past 3 months?
 To what extent would it frustrate you if people
did not give you feedback on how you are
progressing?
Example: Answers to the following questions
(about the elements of the concept)

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What an Operational Definition Is Not?
• Important to understand what an operational
definition is, equally important is to remember
what it is not.
• An operational definition does not describe the
correlates of the concept.
• The operational definition does not consist of;
– Delineating the reasons, antecedents and
consequences
• It describes its observable characteristics in order
to measure the concept.
What an Operational Definition Is Not?

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Example;
• Achievement motivation and performance and/or
success may be highly correlated.
• But we cannot measure an individual’s level of
motivation through success and/or performance.
• Performance and success could have been made
possible as a consequence of achievement
motivation, but in themselves, the two are not
measures of it.
• For instance, a person with high achievement
motivation may have failed for some reason,
perhaps beyond his control, to perform the job
successfully.
What an Operational Definition Is Not?

32. 32
 If we judge the achievement motivation of this
person with performance as the yardstick, we
would have measured the wrong concept.
 Instead of measuring achievement motivation
our variable of interest, we would have
measured performance, another variable we had
not intended to measure nor were interested in.
What an Operational Definition Is Not?

33. 33
Example;
Operationalizing the Concept of Learning
LEARNING;
 An important concept in the educational
setting.
 How could we measure the abstract concept
called learning?
 First, we need to define the concept
operationally the (dimensions).
 Second, break it down to observable and
measurable behaviors the (elements).

34. 34
The Dimensions of learning are: a student is “learning”
when the individual;
1. Understanding
 Understands what is taught in the class room
2. Retention
 Retains and remembers what is understood
3. Application
 Applies whatever has been understood and
remembered
Example;
Operationalizing the Concept of Learning

35. 35
• These terms still abstract, it is necessary to break
these three dimensions into elements so we can
measure the concept of learning.
• A schematic diagram of the operational definition
of the concept of learning is shown in Figure 2.
• The diagram will facilitate our understanding of
the discussion.
Example;
Operationalizing the Concept of Learning

36. 36

37. 37
What Is Not
an Operational Definition of Learning?
• Important to remember that learning is no
measure of the effort the teacher expends in
explaining, nor that put in by the student to
understand, though both of these naturally tend
to enhance understanding.
• Efforts of the teacher and the students, may be
correlated to learning they do not actually
measure it.

38. 38
A Measure of Student Learning
• An exam that measures learning in students
would include the following questions (the
particular dimensions tapped are shown in
parentheses):
1. Define the concept of motivation (recall).
2. State the various theories of motivation and
explain them, giving examples
(understanding and recall).
3. What is your viewpoint of the manager’s role
as motivator? (understanding and analysis).

39. 39
4. Describe three different situations in which a
manager of a work organization would use
equity theory, the expectancy theory, and job
designs to motivate employees (application).
5. How does motivation relate to leadership? How
are these concepts related to a manager’s job?
(understanding, retention, application).
A Measure of Student Learning

40. 40
EXERCISE NO. 1
• Schematically depict the operational definition of the
concept of stress and develop 10 questions that
would measure stress.

41. 41
Solution to Exercise 1

42. 42
Thanks

43. 43
Thank you